This week marks a year since Fidelity National Financial Chair Bill Foley launched his season-ticket campaign for a Las Vegas expansion NHL team, but he "still doesn't have his hockey team and there's no guarantee the NHL's 30 owners are going to let him join their exclusive club," according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Foley faces that reality even though there are "now more than 14,000 people with deposits for season tickets, a venue -- the 17,500-seat T-Mobile Arena -- that opens its doors April 6 and has sold out its suites, a lease that is solid and an application the NHL finds no fault with." Foley: "I thought we'd have the team in no time. It just shows you how naive I was." Carp noted the NHL "has been cautious about expansion." It is "more than making sure the ownership group is solid and legitimately funded." Rather, it is "about whether to share revenue ... with one or two more entities." There also are concerns with "competitive balance and conference alignment," the salary cap and whether the "first expansion teams with a cap in place would get full cap rights." Foley: "There's a lot of moving parts to this that I wasn't initially aware of. ... I don't ask a lot of questions. I understand they want to get it right. And I don't blame them. This is a huge decision that is going to affect the NHL for years to come. But I'm not a patient guy by nature. However, I've learned to be patient. At least for this project. I don't want to upset the other owners because I want to be one of them one of these days, so I try to keep my mouth shut" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/9).
WHAT DID TOM PETTY SAY ABOUT WAITING? SI.com's Allan Muir wrote Foley has "proven himself a master of playing the admission game," avoiding the "mistakes of previous would-be owners." He has "kept a low profile," and his "practiced interview manner has helped him avoid saying anything that might sour the process." Muir: "He comes off as the perfect future neighbor, enthusiastic but respectful." Foley would "like to know where he stands by June so that he can officially begin preparations to begin play" in the '17-18 season. However, there are a "lot of questions still to be answered before that happens" (SI.com, 2/10). When and if the franchise does arrive, Foley said there will be a “name the team contest.” The color scheme of black, gold and grey is in honor of West Point, Foley’s alma mater. He added he is "already talking to sponsors." Foley: "We’re going to have a wide pool of sponsorships available and also we’re going to have a pretty good income stream" (KSNV-NBC, 2/8).
